Kirton Island (Kirton Island)
Kirton Island is a small coastal island of the Robinson Group, lying 3 nmi west of Cape Daly, Mac. Robertson Land, Antarctica, and about 1.5 nmi south of Macklin Island. It was mapped by Norwegian cartographers from air photos taken by the Lars Christensen Expedition, 1936–37, and was named by the Antarctic Names Committee of Australia for M. Kirton, a geophysicist at Mawson Station in 1959.
A 195 ha site, which comprises Kirton Island and neighbouring Macklin Island, along with associated smaller islands and the intervening marine area, has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports about 13,000 breeding pairs of Adélie penguins, based on 2006 satellite imagery.
A 195 ha site, which comprises Kirton Island and neighbouring Macklin Island, along with associated smaller islands and the intervening marine area, has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports about 13,000 breeding pairs of Adélie penguins, based on 2006 satellite imagery.
Map - Kirton Island (Kirton Island)
Map
Country - Antarctica
Antarctica is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe, and has an area of 14200000 km2. Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average thickness of 1.9 km.
Antarctica is, on average, the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and it has the highest average elevation. It is mainly a polar desert, with annual precipitation of over 200 mm along the coast and far less inland. About 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen in Antarctica, which, if melted, would raise global sea levels by almost 60 m. Antarctica holds the record for the lowest measured temperature on Earth, −89.2 C. The coastal regions can reach temperatures over 10 C in summer. Native species of animals include mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Where vegetation occurs, it is mostly in the form of lichen or moss.
Antarctica is, on average, the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and it has the highest average elevation. It is mainly a polar desert, with annual precipitation of over 200 mm along the coast and far less inland. About 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen in Antarctica, which, if melted, would raise global sea levels by almost 60 m. Antarctica holds the record for the lowest measured temperature on Earth, −89.2 C. The coastal regions can reach temperatures over 10 C in summer. Native species of animals include mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Where vegetation occurs, it is mostly in the form of lichen or moss.